Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

An iconoclastic artist, Nathalie Talec moves between live performance, installation, sculpture, and painting. The One Who Sees Blindly, her first solo exhibition in the United States, brings together many of her recurring themes.

The latest Room for Big Ideas installation, Reimagine: That Which We Know But Don’t Realize, explores the ways in which we simultaneously create and conceal meaning in landscapes, and how that process defines us in relation to our environment.

By Bambi Beltran, Keith Deligero, Norbert Elnar, Donna Gimeno, Christian Linaban, Idden de los Reyes & Remton Siega Zuasola
US Premiere
There is a lot more going on in current Filipino cinema than what comes out of Manila. The province of Cebu, in the Visayas, is becoming a hotbed of independent filmmaking. Biyernes Biyernes is not intended to be an omnibus of short films, but rather a feature film made by seven directors about the city they live in. The film is set on a Friday, taking place over 24 hours. It is composed of seven different stories, from a political satire set in a mental institution, to tales of violence and prostitution in the urban corners, and even a lesbian love affair. (2011, 87 min)

By Arnel M. Mardoquio
US Premiere
This major discovery comes from Mindanao, the often-troubled southern region of the country. Few Americans visit here, despite its beauty and amazing cultural diversity. Gritty, poetic and a riveting plea for peace, the story is set against the harsh realities of Mindanao’s internal refugees or “bakwits,” victims of the separatist war that continues to ravage the countryside. They flock to makeshift houses in gymnasiums, schools, and churches to escape being caught in the crossfire. (2011, 105 min)

By Lawrence Fajardo
US Premiere
The Pasay Rotonda is one of the busiest intersections in Manila. It is a place of absolute chaos: people, cars, buses, motorcycles, jeepneys and trains all compete for space as they try to navigate the crumbling, complex geography of the city in the sweltering tropical heat. It is here that the disparate lives of the characters in Amok converge, their fates united by the violence that sweeps through the streets. (2011, 83 min)